[PDF] Anti-vaccination rhetoric online

14300_1Antivacunes_EN.pdf

REPORT

Content Department

Anti-vaccination rhetoric online

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1. Conclusions

The objective of this report is to analyse how anti-vaccine rhetoric is constructed in audiovisual content disseminated online. More people than ever now use the internet to find information, including about their health. The web gives us access to content that provides specialised medical knowledge, as well as content that refutes such knowledge.

Anti-vaccination rhetoric

To estimate the prevalence of anti-vaccination messages online, we performed a quantitative assessment by carrying out two complementary searches on YouTube linked to child vaccination. In the first we used a neutral search term (with neither positive nor negative connotations), and found that 12% of the top 50 results were against vaccination. For the second search we used a term with anti-vaccine connotations, which we believe gives a closer result to what people who have misgivings about vaccination would find. In this case, anti-vaccination content rises to 40% of the total. Based on the results of these searches, we selected 10 audiovisual contents available on video-sharing platforms that are explicitly against vaccination and that have garnered over 1.5 million views in total. Our analysis reveals the main features of online anti-vaccination discourse, which is constructed through the type of message disseminated and the persuasion strategies used. 3 Anti-vaccination messages on online audiovisual content Anti-vaccination discourse is characterised by the repetition of a series of arguments from various perspectives that converge in denying the opportunity or desirability of universal vaccination, as provided in advanced public health systems. The most widely repeated argument found in almost all the content analysed, 90% casts doubt on the safety of vaccines. This is done by highlighting the alleged toxicity of vaccines, linking them to the onset of various diseases, and suggesting that the purported harmful effects are covered up: contain them once upon a time. Now they are all toxins of the microorganism and foreign substances, some of which would make your hair stand on end (Vacunas, peligros y alternativas por Adolfo Pérez Agustí - "Vaccines, dangers and alternatives by Adolfo Pérez Agustí") The vaccinated population has a 500% higher incidence of chronic illnesses. leukaemia, lymphoma, bone tumour, brain tumour, allergy illnesses, autoimmune illnesses, [...] neuropsychiatric illnesses and neurodevelopment disorders (Qué sucede con los no vacunados - Dr. EDUARDO YAHBES - "What's the situation with the unvaccinated - Dr. EDUARDO YAHBES") Similarly, in 80% of content, anti-vaccination messages are constructed by questioning the effectiveness of vaccines. In particular, they argue that vaccines do not result in immunity, attribute the lower rate of infectious diseases to improved hygiene and living conditions, as well as invalidating them by claiming that they do not provide full protection:

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